On Human Suffering

A friend recently asked me about human suffering.  Here is my reply:

Dear –,

I fear my answers may not be intellectually satisfying, but I will try.

The situation you related pertains to the old question of why there is suffering in the world. The hidden cause of suffering is sin disrupting the cosmic order, but externally, it appears to come from two primary sources:

1. Nature (natural disasters, famine, disease, etc.)
2. Humanity (war, crime, cruelty, accidents, attachment to the world, etc.)

GOD CREATED A GOOD WORLD

In ancient times, some pagans (the Greeks in particular) believed that the material world was evil. For them, its origins were either from an evil god or from a conflict between gods.  They couldn’t bring themselves to admit that a good god would create a world in which there is so much suffering.

The Jews (and later Christians) came with a radical message that a good God created the entire cosmos, and when he finished, pronounced it to be “very good.”  Such a message was countercultural and offensive. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul held the Athenians in rapt attention when teaching about the Christian God.  That is, until he mentioned a bodily resurrection, then he lost much of the crowd. Why? To the ancient Greeks, the body was part of this world full of suffering, violence, filth, disease, and death. Why would anyone want a god who is cruel enough to resurrect our bodies?

REDEEMING SUFFERING

When our God, who wraps himself in light as with a garment (Psalm 103), humbly wrapped himself in a human body, he did not end suffering on earth. In fact, he joined us in our suffering with a painful and humiliating death. Early heretics were scandalized by both the Incarnation and the Cross. They usually tried to do away with at least one of them. The Gnostics said that Jesus merely appeared to have a body, but was actually a phantom; others said that the divine spirit left Christ on the cross because it couldn’t be subjected to such humiliation. Ancient people (and even modern ones) struggled to accept this idea that God would join us in the “dirty” material world – that he would suffer alongside us.

Yet Christians would not water down the message; the Cross is the center of our faith. St. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23).  Yet when Christ was crucified, it did not end all suffering. Rather, it redeemed suffering. It showed suffering as a divine path to union with God. Whatever suffering we endure, when we accept the suffering as a means of joining Christ in his suffering, we will find that we are given supernatural strength to endure the Cross that we are bearing.

Due to the divinizing quality of suffering, some recent saints, such as Elder Porphyrios, surprisingly prayed to have cancer so he could join those whom he considered to be “martyrs” in their suffering through cancer. As cancer and other diseases racked the Elder’s body, tears of joy streamed down his face. He continued being a powerful source of heavenly peace to those around him.

For us Christians, the difficult message we must embrace (and that the world cannot understand) is that suffering is not an evil to be avoided at all costs, but an ascension to the Cross and a path to union with God. Such an outlook cannot be forced or argued on anyone. It can only be understood through joining with Christ in prayer.

INTRODUCING: EVIL

As I mentioned above, God created everything to be good. Yet mankind rebelled against God and brought the beginnings of evil, pain, death, disease, sickness, and calamity into the world. Our sin does not just affect us, but has a ripple affect on the entire world since it was placed in our care during Creation. Paul writes, the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now awaiting the time when God will restore all things (Romans 8:22).

Our sin corrupted nature itself and has caused the whole world to be in a state of “breaking down.” For that reason, we have natural disasters. Mother Nature and human nature are both sick.

SUFFERING FROM HUMANS

Whenever there is a shooting or some kind of tragedy, people immediately wonder, Why would God allow this to happen?  If he is all powerful, couldn’t he have stopped it?  They often refuse to believe in the existence of God for this reason.

So, why do evil things happen? The simple answer is that we humans have freewill: the ability to choose between good and evil. In order for love to exist and for us to unite to God in love (which is our purpose in life), we must be able to choose between good and evil.  Love cannot abide in creatures that have no freewill (that’s why a robot, for example, could never truly love anyone).

Humans do evil things because we have a free will that has been diseased by sin. Worse yet, we are blind to most of the evil in our hearts. Hardly anyone commits evil for the sake of evil. All sin is a twisting of the good. Some examples:

• Pleasure is good, but hedonism is not.
• Order and leadership are good, but oppressive dominion over others is not.
• Having possessions is fine, but hoarding and stealing are evil.
• Rest is necessary, but laziness is not.
• Food is great, but gluttony is abuse of the gifts we’ve been given.
• Education is good, but being full of ourselves is not.
• Technological advancement is good, but using advances in technology to hurt others is not.

The blindness we have for evil residing in our hearts allows evil to perpetuate in the world. We hurt others while justifying our actions. Many tragedies and genocides have been committed in the names of justice, peace, and preserving humanity.  Many smaller acts of evil – e.g., hurtful words or manipulating others – are committed by “good” people everyday.

LIVING WITHOUT HYPOCRISY

As our hearts grow smaller and colder from evil residing within, and our capacity for evil increases.  The Lord Jesus warns us that an impure heart cannot be trusted, For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:19).  While it is easy to pick on the evil that we see in others, we must start with our own hearts.

Judge not, that you be not judged…And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye (Matthew 7:1-5)

FINDING THE KINGDOM WITHIN

Much of the Orthodox spiritual life pertains to purifying the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5). To see God is to commune with Him deeply and be united to Him. We can only find purity and commune with God if we are willing to face the darkness and “monsters” within.  Through the guidance of a spiritual father, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the grace that our Church offers, there is hope and freedom.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things (Matthew 12:35).  There is good within, but it takes God’s grace to find it.

Abba Macarius also explains,

The heart itself is but a small vessel, yet dragons are there,…poisonous beasts and all the treasures of evil. But there too is God, the angels, the life and the kingdom, the light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasuries of grace—all things are there.

In fact, the way to the Kingdom of God is the inward journey to the heart, for the Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). The heart is not inherently evil, but it has been damaged by the evil in this world. May God be with us as we seek spiritual healing in the Orthodox Church.